The IPv4 Market is coming of age: Unprecedented volume of numbers transferred through ARIN along with an uptick in pricing
Transfer Activity
Transfer data published by ARIN in October shows that the IPv4 market is picking up steam. August and September saw the highest volume of numbers transferred through ARIN since IPv4 trading began several years ago. The top 3 block sizes being purchased (based on combined interRIR and intraRIR stats) are /24s, /22s and /16s with /20s running a close 4th. In the RIPE market, the volume of numbers transferred through October exceeded those transferred at the same time last year by around 12%
Pricing
We are also seeing an uptick in pricing in the ARIN region, likely influenced by the influx of RIPE demand and ARIN depletion. Buyers of address space at or above /13s continue to look for the deeply discounted volume prices under $6.25/ number but fewer of the remaining large block sellers are biting. Many of them are waiting to see what 2016 brings. At the other end of the market, /16 and smaller blocks are increasingly being traded between $7.50 and $8.50 per number.
Policy
At ARIN’s most recent meeting in Montreal, two proposed policies sought to ease or eliminate the needs basis requirements for transfers altogether. Although no progress was made with respect to either policy, ARIN participants did seem more open to relaxing the requirements . . . eventually. In the LACNIC region, the policy introduced by David Huberman of Microsoft that would allow interRIR transfers with the LACNIC region was abandoned, shutting off the LACNIC region from the developing IPv4 market.
IPv6 Deployment
IPv6 deployment hit 9% last month according to Google’s IPv6 content measurements. Although there was evidence of a slight escalation in IPv6 deployment during the summer months in response to the events in the ARIN region (waiting list followed by full depletion), data since August suggests that IPv6 deployment is back on the same trajectory that preceded those events: steady but slow.
News
In the news, an Infoblox freedom of information request revealed that the UK government is ill-prepared for IPv6 and sitting on over 5 million unused IPv4 addresses, Geoff Huston provided a nice recap of NANOG 65 and the ABA Journal featured an article on Avenue4’s Marc Lindsey and his role in the development of the IPv4 market.
